Cupola charger



Sept. 12, 1933. G. J. WALKER 1,926,693

CUPOLA CHARGER Filed July 10, 1.950

-- INVIENTOR.

Glen c]. Walker,

A TTORNEY-S Patented Sept. 12, 1933 I 1,926,693] CUTOLA' CHARGER Glen J. Walker, Indianapolis, Ind., a'ssignor, by

mesne assignments,'to F. William Cornelius,

Indianapolis, Ind.

Application July10,1930. Serial No. 466,923

11o Claims. (01. 214- 18).

The present application relates to cupola chargers, and the primary object of the inventionis to provide'a charging device for cupolas andpther furnaces which. shall be extremely 5 simple and inexpensive, andat thesametime; A further object of the inven tion is to provide an elevating and tilting plat-.

highly eficient.

form of improved construction. Afurtherobject of the invention is to provide, in connection 0 with such a platform, simple and highly efficient safety devices. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. jj

To the accomplishment of the above and relat'ed objects, my 'invention maybe embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying 'drawing, attention being called to thefact, however, that the drawing is illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of 20. the appended claims is notviolatedr In said drawing: 1

V Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic illustration of a charging device constructed in accord-r ance with myinvention;

i Fig. 2 is a side elevation of adetail thereof, certain portions being shown insection for clarity of illustration; V

Fig. 3 is aplan view, on areduced scale, of the detail illustrated in Fig. 2, and showing a fragment ofthe cupola in horizontalsection;

Fig. i is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the device illustrated in Fig; 2, the parts being shown in different positions; and

tion of the platform.

Referring more particularly to it will be seen that I- have illustrated a cupola having a charging door 11 and mounted upon 40 a base 12, the door 11 being located somewhat above a charging floor 13 which is at a considerably higher elevation than thejbase.12.' An inclined ramp 14 carries a trackway and extends I the ramp 14 andthe winding mechanism 16. A

cable 1'? has its one end secured to the drum of the winding mechanism 16, and the opposite end of said cable is adapted tobe 'attached 'to the car15.' m As illustrated, the trackway extends to a point slightly spaced from the cupola '10, and a platform, illustrated generally at 18, bridges the space between the end of said traokway and the 60 cupola. The platform 18 and its associated elements are illustrated in detail in Fig. 2. f

the drawing,

vcarried bracket. and 4, the lower end'of theylever 3 iis formed A fluid pressure cylinder 19 is mounted to pivot upon a horizontal axis 19, said cylinder being preferably carried upon brackets 63 secured to cably received insaid cylinder 19, and the plat PATENT OFFICE j y the. body of the cupola. Apiston-20 is recipro form ,18 is pivotally mounted, as at 21, upon the -,upper projectingend ,of the piston 20. Said plat--.

form carries track rails 22 adapted' to register with the rails'carried upon 'the rarnp 14: and '1 the charging floor 13. s a l From the opposite sides of theforward end of the platform 18-there project arms 23 and 24 adapted to cooperate respectively with. guide brackets 25- and 26 preferably secured, to 'the body of the 01113012, 10. Each of said brackets is formed with a substantially vertical guide slot 27, the upper ends of said-slotsbeing curved, as indicated at 28, toward a plane including the axis of thecupola and substantially parallel with the plane of the door 11. in Figslz, 3, and l, each of the arms23 and 24 is bifurcated at its outer end to embrace its respective bracket 25 or 26, and a pin 29 is mounted in the furcationsof; each oisaid arms and ex tends through its respective slot 27;

At a point spaced rearwardly from the point of pivotal mounting of the-platform l B on the piston '20, a cross piece 30 extends transversely acrossthe platform belowuthe upper surface of the rails '22. A latch member 31 is pivoted at 32 on a bracket secured .to the'upper endiof the ment with said piece bya coil springja i." A pair end of a lever 34 pivoted at 35 to said piston- As is clearly shownin Figs. 2

with a laterally projecting finger 36.

Stationarily' mounted below the, charging floor 13 is a bracket 37 formed with a slot 38 in which. is reciprocably mounted a trip bar 39, said bar being formed adjacent its upper end with a downwardly facing shoulder 40am adjacent its lower end with an upwardly facing shoulder 41. The

through said slot. I .At a point between the shoulderAO and the upperj endof the bar 39, said bar is formed with Asj-is clearly indicated piston 20 and is adapted'to engage the cross 5 piece 30; being urged, toward'l'atching engage- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary end elevation of a pora recesswhich mamas illustrated, take the form extremity pf the bar 38 i s formed, as shownyas v a cam surface 43. for a purpose which will ap pear hereinafter, a p

The forward ends ofthe rails'22 are turned upwardly, as shown at 45, for cooperation with the front wheels 46 of the car 15in preventing said car from rolling off of the platform when:

a said platformlis tilted; It is to be noted that the frontwheels 46 are mounted upon separate stub axles 47 which do, not extend across the, space between said wheels; whilethe rear wheels 48 are mounted upon a single axle 49 which .does

extend transversely completely. across the car. "Between the rails 22 and adjacent the rearend'" of the platform 18 there is mounted a: Z-shaped, bracket 50 having a vertical portion 52. and a horizontal portion 51.

As .is clearly shown in FigLZ, when the car 15 is, moved ontothe platform; the portion 51 of thebracket 50 engages the upper surface of the axle 49 to prevent the car 15 from toppling over when the piatf'orm is tilted, and the vertical portion 52 of said bracket when the car is moved to itsu-ltimate position on the platform-18, to assist in preventingfthe car from engages the forward face of the axle rolling forward off of the platform when said platform is tilted; h

" One form of car which I have found eminently suitable-for use with. the present device is provided with a dumping doorf53 at its-front-end,

said door beingpivoted as at 54 at its upper end,

and held in closed position by a latch 55 .co-

operating with the-lower edgeofthe'door, and

adapted 'tofbe released by any suitable me'cha -nism-. As shown, the carmay also include a dividing door 64 pivoted at its upper edge at 65 andadapted'to be held in separating position by a removable pin 66'; T l I To guard against the .possibi-li'ty'of the car ro11- ing backward off of the platform while 'saidplatform is elevated, I have provided the mechanism disclosed inFig. 5. To the rear cross'brace 56 there is' pivoted, 'adjacenteach. end ofsaidcross piece, alever 57, said lever being pivotally mount"- ed u'pon'a pin58. A finger 59 projects laterally from theupper end of said lever- 57,. the'weight and positionof said finger being such asto bias the lever 57 into the position shown wherein it projects into the path-ofthe fiange of the wheel 48. Preferably, a clip' orjbracket 601s secured to the cross-brace 56 in such a position as,to"em brace and reinforce the finger 5 9, when said finger is in the'position illustrated inFig; 5. V r

. The bias of the lever 5'? is such a's, to insure assumption of the position illustratedin Fig; '5

unless. it is positively moved and held out of such: position. Of course, the finger '59. must beJmoved out of obstructing'position to permit carstobe moved onto, and off of the platform 18. Such, movement of cars, however, should never takeplace except when the platform .is in'its lowermost position. To provide'for the automatic positioningof the finger59, the Iowerend of the lever 57 is can-lined, as shown at 61, for cooperationwith a member 62 secured to the floor 13 and projecting into the path of said lower end of the lever 57. It will be obvious from Fig. 5 that,

as the platform 18 is movedfdownwardly slightly beyond the positonshown in Fig. 5, the projection 62 will engage thecam surfacejfil of the lever 57 to 'move said lever in a-clockwi se direction; thus withdrawing the finger 59 from the path of the flange of the wheel 48.

In operation, a car is' loaded witha proper charge of materialsfor the cupola; The cable 17 is attached to the car, andthe winding mechanism 16 isoperated to draw the carup the ramp and onto-the platform 18. Thecable is then detached from the car, and fluid pressure is admitted to'the bottom ofthe cylinder 19. As the.

piston moves upwardly, the platform 18 is,

of course, carried with. it. The engagementof the latch member 31' with the cross piece maintains-the platform 18 in a substantially horizontal position as it moves upwardly; The pin 29 is thus caused to'move upwardly through the slot 27. thepin -29 enters the curved portion 28- of theslot 27, the platform 18' is shifted forwardly to enter thefcupola door 11' slightly. Such movement :of: course, accompanied by tilting of the cylinder 19 about itspivot 19'. Almost simultaneously with this movement, the shoulder (i1 comes into engagement with the bracket 37 and, as the piston 29 continues'to move upwardly, the bar 39 holds back on the finger 36, thus causing'co'unterclockwise' rotation ,of the lever 34 about' its pivot which, through the links 33,

causes the latch member 31' to be moved against the tendency of the spring 44' out of latching engagement with" the cross piece 30; This releases the platformlsfor tilting movement on its pivot 21, and further movement of the piston 20 causes the platform 18 to rotate about the pins 29, said pinsbeing retained in the extremities of the curved portions 28 of the slots 27. The platform is: thus brought into theultimate dotted. line position of Fig. 2, the doors 5 3 and 64 swing downwardly, and thecontents of the car 15 are discharged-into the'cupola' l0.

The counter clockwise movement of the lever 34 which'releases the engagement of the latch member 31 with the cross piece 30 likewise moves the finger--36 out of engagement in the recess 42,

and the bar 39 is thus permitted to drop back into the position of Fig.2, in which saidbar is supported by the engagement of the shoulder 'f' with thebracket 37. a h

Of course, the initial upward movement of the platform 18 carries the lower end of the lever 57 out of its engagement with the projection 62,

thus permitting'the iinger'5 9 to fall into'the position of-EFigh 5. r

)After the contents of the car have been discharged, the fluid contained in the cylinder 19 is released, and the piston begins to subside. The platform 18pivots about the pins 29until thecross'piece 30 engages the-cammed surface 67 of the latch member 31. Normally, this engagement will move thelatch member '31 in a counter-clockwise direction to permit the cross piece 30 tomove into aposition such that said latch member can springinto latching engagement therewith. 'Further downward movement of the piston 20 draws the pins. 29 downwardly andoutwardly through the curved portions 28 and down through the slots 2'7. As the platform approaches its lowermostposition,the finger.36 engages the cam surface 43 at the extremity of the bar. 39, and the lever 34 and latch member 31 are. moved in a counter-clockwise lot nowbe moved down the ramp,-and a charged car may be broughtup, and dumped in' a similar manner. v

I claim as my invention: i 1; Car dumping mechanism comprising a plat form adapted to'support a car, a fluid pressure a piston received in said cylinder and wholly supporting-said platform in a normally horizontal'position, a guide, means on said platform cooperably engaging said guide, and means for supplying fluid under pressure to said cylinder to elevate said piston, said guide being formed to cause tilting of said platform out'of such horizontal position upon elevation of saidpiston be- 7 pivotally mounted on one of said elements and yond a predetermined point. t i

2. Car dumping mechanism comprising a platform adapted to support a car, a fluid pressure cylinder pivotally 'mounted beneath said platsaid piston, and means for disengaging said latch member from said platform upon elevation of said piston beyond a' predetermined point to permit said platform to tilt about said securing means. i

3. In a device of the class described, a fluid pressure cylinder, a reciprocable piston operatively received in said cylinder, a platform pivotally mounted on said piston, a latch'mounted on one of said pivotally associated elements and engageable with the other of said elements, said latch being biased toward such engagement, means for supplying fluid to said cylinder to move said piston in one direction, and means for movement of said'member in such direction, said bar is arrested by said step means, and upon further movement of said member in such direction, said bar actuates said lever to disengage said latch.

5. The combination with a reciprocable mem- 1 bar and a platform pivoted thereto, of a latch member pivoted to said reciprocable member and biased toward engagement with saidlplatform',

a leer pivoted tosaid reciprocable member, a

link pivoted to said latch and to said lever, a trip bar suspended from said lever, and means disposed in the path of said bar to arrest upward movement thereof prior to the completion of the upward stroke of said reciprocable manner.

6. The combination with a reciprocable memher. and a platform pivoted thereto, of latch mechanism for normally preventing. relative movement between said platform and reciprocable member comprising a latch member pivoted to said reciprocable member and biased to- ,slot.

,ward engagement with said platform, a lever pivoted to said reciprocable member, a link pivoted to said latch and to one end of said lever, a finger projectinglaterally from the other end of said lever, a stationary bracket having a slottherein, and a trip bar mounted for limited vercylinder pivotally mounted beneath said platform,

tical movement therein, said bar being formed at its upper end witha cam surface adapted to ccop'erate with said finger to-cause disengaging 7. The combination with a pair of pivotally related reciprocable elements and a latch therei for, of latch operating means comprising a lever operatively connected'to said latch, an angularly projecting'finger on said lever, and a trip bar mounted for limited movement with said elements and biased toward a position corresponding to one extremity of the stroke of said reciprocableelements, said bar being formed with a recess adapted to receive said finger, and with a cam surface cooperable with said finger to effect disengaging movement of said latchand to guide said finger into said recess upon relative movement of said reciprocable elements in one direction. 7

8. The combination with a. furnace having a door therein, of charging means therefor comprising a trackway leading to a point below said door, a windingdrum separated from'said trackand said bar way by 'saidfurnace, a car movable on said track- 7 way, a cable secured to said car andto said drum,

a platform disposed adjacent said furnace and carrying track rails registering with the rails of said trackway,-means for elevating said platform to the level of the lower edge of said door, means' retaining said platform" in a substantially horil zontal position during such elevation, and means for releasing said retaining'means substantially at the completion of such elevation to permit tilting of said platform about a transverse axisand" toward said ,door.

9. The combination with a'furnace having a doorfof charging means therefor comprising a; guide bracket mounted adjacent said door and 7 formed with a substantially vertical slot, the ups fper end of, said slot being curved toward a plane passing through the center of said furnace and parallel'with the plane of said door, a'platform adapted to receive a charging car meansQse-l cured to said platform andengaging in said slot,

and elevating means pivotally secured to said, 7 a

platform. e V

10. The combination with afurnace having a guide bracket mounted adjacent said door-and formed with a substantially verticalslot, the up:

per'end of said slot'being curve'd toward a plane passing through the center of said furnace and parallel with the plane of said door, a platform adapted to receive a charging car, means secured to said platform and engaging insaid slot, ele-' vating means pivotally secured to said platform, latch means normally preventing pivotal move-- ment of said platform on said elevating means,

and actuating means for said latch means oper v able to release said latch means when said slot'- engaging means enters the curved portion of said GLEN J, W LKER;

door, of charging means-therefor comprising a 

